Category Archives: Celebrity Medical Gossip

Bollywood seems to be setting a new trend in exploring rare diseases with directors casting superstars in roles which seek to raise awareness about such lesser known ailments. NGOs and social workers are cheering the move, which they say would result in an increase in the awareness and sensitivity among those who were ignorant of such diseases.

Schizophrenia (Karthik Calling Karthik, Aankhen, Woh Lamhe)

Asperger’s Syndrome (My Name Is Khan)

Progeria (Paa)

Amnesia (Ghajini)

Alzheimers (U Me Aur Hum)

Dyslexia (Taare Zameen Par)

Autism (Apna Asman)

Mental Retardness (Koi Mil Gaya)

Deafness & Blindness combined with Alzheimers (Black)

Cancer (Anand, Dil Ek Mandir Hai, Mili, Shaadi Se Pehle)

Heart disease (Kal Ho Na Ho)

Mental Illness (Krazzy 4)

Chup Chup Ke (Deaf & Mute)

Deaf & Blind(Pyare Mohan)

Blindness(Naina)

HIV/AIDS(Phir Milenge and My Brother Nikhil )

Coma(Sadma )

Dextrocardia(Luck )

Mental illness and movies have always been connected for not only commercial reasons but also those of aesthetic in nature. Each individual, however strong they may claim to be, goes through psychological disturbances at some point in their lives, whether they realize it or they don’t. This is perhaps why movies across nations have depicted mental illness in commercial films.

The success of these films also stand as testimonies to the hard hitting fact, that the viewer relates to the character afflicted with mental illness or trauma. Since the beginning of International cinema, madness as a concept has done well both in terms of critical acclaim and box office success. Here are some movies which have left an impact on the critics, audience and movie lovers through the decades.

Dementia

Alzheimer’s disease

Iris (2001)

De Zaak Alzheimer (2003)

Away from Her (2006)

The Notebook (2004)

Thanmatra (2005)

U Me Aur Hum (2008)

Amnesia

Anterograde amnesia

A person with anterograde amnesia is unable to form new memories.

Clean Slate (1994)

Wintersleepers (1997)

Memento (2001)

50 First Dates (2004)

The Lookout (2007)

Ghajini (2005)

Retrograde amnesia

A much-used plot device, retrograde amnesia occurs when a person forgets part or all of his or her past.

I Love You Again (1940)

Sullivan’s Travels (1941)

Random Harvest (1942), in which Ronald Colman’s character suffers from the condition not once but twice.

Crime Doctor (1943)

Anastasia (1956)

RoboCop (1987)

Overboard (1987)

Regarding Henry (1991)

The Majestic (2001)

The Addams Family (1991)

The English Patient (1996)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

The Bourne Identity (2002)

Finding Nemo (2003)

The Number 23 (2007)

Spider-Man 3 (2007)

Unknown (2011)

Psychogenic amnesia

Psychogenic amnesia is memory loss caused by psychological stress.

Spellbound (1945)

The Snake Pit (1948)

Shadow on the Wall (1950)

Marnie (1964)

Mister Buddwing (1966)

Agoraphobia

Grey Gardens 1975

Copycat (1995)

Naked Fear (1999)

Frozen with Fear (2000)

Public Domain (2003)

Ocean’s Twelve (2004)

N.H.K ni yôkoso! (2006)

Nims Island (2008)

Restraint (2008)

Tokyo! (2008)

Anxiety disorders

Ordinary People (1980)

Mrs Dalloway (1997)

Session 9 (2001)

Elling (2001)

White Oleander (2002)

Punch-Drunk Love (2002)

Autistic disorder

The Boy Who Could Fly (1986)

Rain Man (1988)

House of Cards (1993)

Cube (1997)

Mercury Rising (1998)

Molly (1999)

Bless the Child (2000)

Miracle Run (2004)

Mozart and the Whale (2005)

Marathon (2005)

Snow Cake (2006)

Ben X (2007)

The Black Balloon (2008)

Adam (2009)

My Name Is Khan (2010)

Temple Grandin (2010)

Ocean Heaven (2010)

Dear John (2010)

Fly Away (2011)

Exodus Fall (2011)

Little Man Tate

Bipolar disorder

A Fine Madness (1966)

Frances (1982)

Mr. Jones (1993)

Blue Sky (1994)

On the Edge of Innocence (1997)

The Horse Whisperer (1998)

Bulworth (1998)

Pollock (2001)

Sylvia (2003)

Special (2006)

The Flying Scotsman (2006)

Michael Clayton (2007)

Observe and Report (2009)

The Informant! (2009)

Boy Interrupted (2009)

Clinical depression

The Fire Within (1963)

Interiors (1978)

Ordinary People (1980)

An Angel at My Table (1990)

The Butcher Boy (1998)

The Virgin Suicides (1999)

Prozac Nation (2001)

The Hours (2002)

The Assassination of Richard Nixon (2004)

Wristcutters: A Love Story (2006)

Shrink (2009)

Veronika Decides to Die (2009)

Helen (2009)

It’s Kind of a Funny Story (2010)

Dissociative disorders

A Double Life (1947)

The Three Faces of Eve (1957)

Psycho (1960)

Persona (1964)

Sybil (1976)

Angel Heart (1987)

Color of Night (1994)

Never Talk to Strangers (1995)

Fight Club (1999)

The Hurricane (1999)

Me, Myself & Irene (2000)

Passion of Mind (2000)

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

Identity (2003)

Secret Window (2004)

The Machinist (2004)

Hide and Seek (2005)

The Jacket (2005)

“2:37”

Thr3e (2007)

Mad Detective (2007)

Numb (2007)

Dark Floors (2008)

The Uninvited (2009)

Frankie and Alice (2010)

Peacock (2010)

The Ward (2011)

The Number 23(2007)

Eating disorders

The Best Little Girl in the World (1981)

Kate’s Secret (1986)

An Anorexic’s Tale: The Brief Life of Catherine (1988)

The Karen Carpenter Story (1989)

For the Love of Nancy (1994)

301, 302 (1995)

When Friendship Kills (1996)

Dying to Be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story (1996)

Perfect Body (1997)

A Girl is a Girl (1999)

Sharing the Secret (2000)

Slender Existence (Short Film) (2000)

NOVA: Dying to Be Thin (Documentary) (2000)

Dying to Dance (2001)

Hunger Point (2003)

Perfect Illusions: Eating Disorders and the Family (Documentary) (2003)

Thin (Documentary) (2006)

Dana: The 8 Year Old Anorexic (Documentary) (2008)

Black Swan (2010)

Obsessive–compulsive disorders

Secrets of a Soul (1926)

Cat People (1942)

What About Bob? (1991)

As Good as It Gets (1997)

K-PAX (2001)

Matchstick Men (2003)

Dirty Filthy Love (2004)

The Aviator (2005)

Black Swan (2010)

Personality disorders

Borderline personality disorder

The Fountainhead (1949)

Play Misty for Me (1971)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Poison Ivy (1992)

The Crush (1993)

Mad Love (1995)

The Cable Guy (1996)

Girl, Interrupted (1999)

Allein (Germany, 2004)

Chloe (2009)

Single White Female (1992)

The Hand that Rocks the Cradle (1992)

Notes on a Scandal (2006)

Black Swan (2010)

Antisocial personality disorder

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

The Silence of the Lambs (1991)

Natural Born Killers (1994)

American Psycho (2000)

No Country for Old Men (2007)

Narcissistic personality disorder

A Clockwork Orange (1971)

Wall Street (1987)

To Die For (1995)

White Oleander (2002)

Schizophrenia

Through a Glass Darkly (1961)

Images (1972)

Videodrome (1983)

The Fisher King (1991)

Benny & Joon (1993)

Angel Baby (1995)

Clean, Shaven (1995)

Conspiracy Theory (1997)

Julien Donkey-Boy (1999)

The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc (1999)

A Beautiful Mind (2001)

Donnie Darko (2001)

K-PAX (2001)

Igby Goes Down (2002)

Spider (2002)

Keane (2004)

Spider Forest (2004)

Shabd (2005)

15 Park Avenue (2005)

Danika (2006)

Mr. Brooks (2007)

The Soloist (2008)

Mirrors (2008)

Shutter Island (2010)

Black Swan (2010)

Learning disabilities

Taare Zameen Par

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief

Delusional disorder and other psychotic disorders

Repulsion (1965)

The King of Comedy (1982)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Misery (1990)

Alien 3 (1992)

Lars and the Real Girl (2007)

Obsessed (2009)

Black Swan (2010)

Films based on medical facts that can be taken up as an example during health talk or during health education.